Chirps and Cheeps

My plans for the day got turned a little upside-down, so I decided to try for the Lawrence's Warbler that was seen at Beaver Meadows a few days ago.  No luck on THAT warbler, but I did get some very nice looks at several Chestnut-sided and a pair of Magnolias.

I scanned the pond for the Virginia Rails that have been seen there but no luck on those either!  I got all excited when I saw a rail-sized bird perching on a dead tree limb but later, photo processing showed it was a Green Heron. Darn!

Photo processing also showed something else: THREE of the birds I photographed were banded! I've never even seen ONE banded bird before, let alone three in one spot. I wonder if Beaver Meadow has a banding station there...

Other noteworthy birds seen today included: Eastern Kingbird, Baltimore Oriole, Common Yellowthroat, Yellow Warbler, American Redstart, Red-eyed Vireo, a pair of House Wrens feeding young, Red-tailed Hawk, and I'm fairly certain I heard an Acadian Flycatcher.

UPDATE:  Thanks to Andrea Patterson, this is the information regarding banding at Beaver Meadow:  "There is a MAPS (Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship) station at the Beaver Meadow Audubon Center.  They band one day out of every ten, from June 1 - August 8.  The MAPS program focuses on locally breeding birds, so seeing banded birds near an active MAPS station is pretty common."

And here is a link to the Beaver Meadow website:  Beaver Meadow website »